Good morning, Zane.
Here we’ve already come to the last day of the month. It’s almost like, WHOOSH—and it’s over with! But speaking of “WHOOSHES,” I’m living with a chosen anticipation that we are fast approaching a very big WHOOSH—where it’s all over with!—and there I am before my Maker/Owner!
I have some timber deliveries to make before I get into formulating a plan for the rest of the day—selecting from a big list of options and variables.
Good to see you last evening. Have a great day. Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
I realize that the most obvious interpretation for this parable applies to Israel in general. But I’d like to present another angle that I think also yields a valid secondary application.
First, consider the Biblical idea that you are like a special parcel of land that God owns and develops for the purpose of producing fruit that is pleasing and useful to Him. The wall around the vineyard represents the parameter of your life, the vineyard represents that part of your being into which the Word of God is planted, the watchtower represents your ability to perceive, process and protect what God has planted, and the tenants represent your accountability, attitudes, and actual management of this parcel that you could neither make nor own by yourself. He’s the designer and owner of it all.
Besides your built-in conscience/spirit that God has embedded there as a mechanism for seeking and knowing Him, He sends lots of influences (thoughts, ideas, and ministries) your way to guide you into the appropriate fulfillment of the contract you’ve “signed”—that you maintain communication with the “Landowner” and return to Him the good fruit that results from His investment (Gal. 5:22-24; Eph. 5:8-10; Phil. 1:9-11; Heb. 13:15).
But alas!—many treat God’s servant-influences with rejection and contempt. They are filled with such deceptive arrogance that they actually come to view themselves as though they were the real designers and owners. They even go so far as to reject and abuse the supreme messenger sent by the Owner—His own Son (Co-owner)—this One Who not only comes to represent the interests of the Owner, but Who has the power and authority to cause their assigned parcel to produce as it should (Jn. 10:10)—and without Whom there is no profitable production of fruit at all (Jn. 15:5). “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (v. 40) The answer is not pleasant for those tenants refusing to yield to the terms and wishes of the Owner.
Be assured that God wants to make you a vital member of His Kingdom by conforming you to being “a people who will produce its fruit.”